Susan Zahn and Erin Darroch

Just Rewards – Chapter 12

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Summary: "If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive."

Disclaimer: All characters depicted herein are the property of Lucasfilm, Disney, etc. Our only profit is in the form of readers' feedback. Please be generous!

Ratings/Warnings: M; mild language; angst; some non-explicit suggestive adult themes

Time Frame: Extension and expansion of Star Wars: A New Hope; during and post-ANH

Tags: Han/Leia. Romance/Angst. Han Solo/Leia Organa

Note: With thanks to our lovely beta readers: CorieMariee, BonesBooth206, YellinYee, and Marjorie Joyce.

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Chapter 12

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The rainforest where the Serricci Rebel base was hidden was living up to its name as the sky opened up yet again with another of the short rain showers that frequently occurred throughout each day. The timing was as inconvenient as ever. Leia had just finished briefing Han and Chewbacca on the smuggling run they were about to set out on. She'd intended to walk back with them to the clearing where the Falcon sat hidden by the high canopy of trees, but the sudden downpour had forced them to seek cover under the relative protection of the Command Center's overhanging roof.

Leia picked at the bottom hem of her uniform blouse, debating what to say now that they'd already said their goodbyes. This was the part she hated the most, and here the weather was, dragging out the moment even longer.

While Han and Chewie were expected to return after delivering the encrypted data in the little microchip tucked safely into one of Han's pockets, it was no guarantee that they would. The hazards they faced and the increasing stress she knew they felt the longer they avoided paying back the prominent crime lord they owed a significant debt to meant that someday, sooner or later, they would not come back.

Leia fidgeted.

Chewbacca growled something, but without the fussy droid Threepio at hand, she had no clue what he was saying. She glanced at Han, but he was not forthcoming with a translation.

She sighed, unable to tell whether the rain was influencing her mood or if it just complemented what she'd been feeling since she'd learned from High Command where this latest mission would be sending Han and his partner. Any sort of trip to the Central Core planets was dangerous—even more so than usual now. It meant more heavily guarded spaceports and trafficked trade lanes and all sorts of hidden dangers to a couple of smugglers whose faces and reputations were becoming public knowledge.

Han had been right to resist that stupid awards ceremony over a month ago now. Not just because it had set a new precedent for how the High Command would expect her to act, but also for how it had effectively put a target on his back, and on Chewbacca's. The very thought of that now made her stomach churn.

But what was there to be done? Every person on base—and really within the ranks of the Rebel Alliance as a whole—had sacrificed in one way or another. Too many had already given their all. There was no room for hesitation or holding back, no option to turn and walk away. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. They had to keep pressing forward with the only goal of winning. And so she had to keep sending them out.

She slipped a surreptitious glance up at the tall Corellian and saw that he was staring down at a growing puddle of rainwater on the tarmac. His expression was pensive, quite different from the lighthearted one she'd rather enjoyed the night before when the three of them, joined by Luke, had spent yet another late evening joking and teasing and talking. It seemed so unfair now to have to send these friends out into dangerous situations. It tore at her every time she had to watch them take off.

Leia scuffed her boot on the pavement to mask her sharp intake of breath.

The rain suddenly stopped then, just as abruptly as it had started, leaving the sharp odor of ozone and the bright glare of noontime sunlight behind. Han took a step forward, out into the light, then hesitated and turned back to face her while Chewbacca continued forward and headed down the flight line to the narrow passage in the trees where their freighter was hidden. Han found her eyes for that brief moment, and she allowed hers to linger with his, maybe a bit longer than what was normally comfortable.

He looked like he wanted to say something but was struggling. Then he looked on the verge of giving up and just turning away. She couldn't bear that.

"Good luck," she blurted out.

One corner of his mobile mouth crooked up into what she supposed was meant to be a reassuring smile and saw it contained a hint of relief as well. "Thanks. See you when we get back."

Leia nodded and watched as he turned and strode across the wet pavement to catch up with his partner.

I really hate to see him leave.

The End